Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Avity Investment Management Inc.

Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,818 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,212 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in Walmart by 249.0% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 26,233 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,578,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 241.7% in the first quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,421 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 189.3% in the first quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 239.7% in the first quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 10,257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 7,238 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 191.8% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 9,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $67.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $544.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.52. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $69.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.35.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. HSBC upped their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,502,762 shares of company stock valued at $951,475,618 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.